A Huge step backward

This is really frustrating, but for the past 2 weeks or so, Makenna has had a regression in her potty training. I don't know why, and what to do. She was doing really good, no accidents at all but lately, when she goes number 2, she goes in her bedroom and hides in her closet to do it, even if I ask her every 10 minutes if she has to go, she will say, "not yet". She is very sly about it! Any advice??

Not sure yet what we have planned for the weekend. There is a strawberry patch here and was thinking about taking the kids to go pick some. Maybe go to the pool again later. Mike has a party to go to tonight.

Its almost 10 am and everyone is still sleeping. It is so nice to have some free time ;)

A few more Arkansas Pics

Here are some pics from the reception:

And Shane... at the end of the night, passed out after eating nilla wafers.

Arkansas Trip

After a long 12 hour trip, we are here in Arkansas! The kids were great on the ride here, and they have been pretty good so far. It has been pretty busy. Yesterday was the bridal shower and the rehearsal dinner. While I was at the bridal shower, Mike took the kids to the zoo:



Today was the wedding! The only thing that happened was that the wedding was supposed to be outdoor but it started raining so we had to move it inside. Since the flash is broken the camera didn't take very good pics, so hopefully once we get the ones from the professional photographer, I can post some on here. Ill post the only ones that came out so far...




Now we are off to the reception! Will post more pics tomorrow hopefully!!

pool and park pics

Pictures we took yesterday at the Kiddie Pool and the Park:

some pics

I did it... I finally cut Makenna's hair! We cut about 5 inches off, and her hair is still pretty long! I wish I had pics of her first haircut, but here she is after:



Little miss model:


Today we took the kids outside for some sprinkler fun, and here are a few pics:

A little update...

First, Happy Mother's Day! To my Mom, to Mike's mom Rita, to my auntie Bulee, to Auntie Sally, and to my grandma in heaven: for all of you who have been a mother to me and have taken care of me. I love you!

So, I'm not sure if i told anyone yet, but at Makenna's last doctor's appointment, I requested that she be evaluated for speech therapy. I know Mike has always been hesitant about it- She is a very smart girl in a lot of ways, and she has been getting better and better at her speech. But...I have always felt she has been behind in communicating things to us, and just felt better about it to have it checked out, especially since she will be starting school soon.

Anyways, I am SO glad we went! The speech therapist we saw was amazing. Mike and I both liked her a lot. I told her my concerns about Makenna usually repeating things instead of answering a lot of our questions, and her confusing her pronouns. Makenna did great also! I was worried that she would be clingy and stubborn and not want to do any of the testing, but she went to the therapist willingly and was not scared at all! That made me so happy. Anyways, the therapist evaluated her and said she was excellent and above average in some areas, but she is behind in logic and communication. So, they will be working on her with that.

Mike and I had talked about when we should start Makenna on Preschool. Since her birthday is after the Sept. 1 cutoff date, if we started her this year, she would be in pre-k 3 and then do pre-k 4 next year ( basically 2 years of preschool). So we had decided to wait and start her with pre-k 4. We were thinking about putting her in the Catholic preschool too (Since both of us went to Catholic schools, we want this for our kids too).

Since her speech therapy evaluation though, we think its best to start her with preschool this year, to help her out more. But instead of starting her out with the Catholic preschool, our speech therapist said they are opening a school in August. It is a Montessori based school and will be perfect for Makenna! Here's a little more about communication disorder and the Montessori method:

Semantic Pragmatic Disorder (SPD) is a communication disorder:

• semantic = the relationship between words or sentences and their meanings;
• pragmatic = making language work in context.

SPD children are unable to process all the given information from certain circumstances.

A child with SPD may exhibit some (but not all) of the following features at an early age:

• A fluent speaker, but on the child's terms;
• Sounds very grown up in his or her speech;
• Doesn't exchange eye contact or facial gestures appropriately;
• Problems with abstract concepts (such as time, next week, guess);
• Doesn't ask teacher to help or children to play;
• Can appear rude, gauche, arrogant and embarrass others;
• Late or early reader, but little understanding;
• Bad at team events and games;
• Bad at social events (school breaks, parties);
• Motor skills problems (writing, drawing, bike riding, dressing, football).

SPD children respond well in Montessori learning environments

Children with SPD thrive in prepared Montessori learning environments. They learn well from practical hands-on tasks and in the quiet, orderly working environment with plenty of visual clues. The predictability of the daily routines reduces their anxieties; turn taking and changes in routines are clearly signalled.

Especially helpful Montessori ideas include:

• Small work groups, good role models, special small communication group activities (command cards etc.);
• Simple instructions spoken slowly: say, for example, please put the toys in the box' not please tidy up';
• Time to reply when asked a question, but replying for an SPD child (modelling) can help understanding;
• Help with socialising, specific games;
• Clear and consistently applied rules on how to behave using concrete language the child can understand;
• Constant positive reminders supported by visual/written information;
• Everything written down: e.g. timetable, instructions, message for parents;
• Daily diary between home and school with regular information about topic work this allows for shared information and pre-tutoring;
• Teach the meaning of playground language and common idiomatic expressions;
• Respond to the child's intentions and not to what is actually said (which may not make sense);
• Always allow him or her to watch other children first;
• Double check the child understands what is expected of him or her;
• Constant encouragement and praise.

Well, I guess that turned out to be more than a little update!!

Jennah

Garage sale finds....

On Saturday, our subdivision had a neighborhood garage sale, so I woke Mike up nice and early to go look for some deals. I absolutely love garage sales! Not just because you can find stuff for real cheap, but also, there's no packaging to throw away or you don't have to put things together because they are already put together, like this really nice Toddler bed we found:


We actually got it for Shane, for when he turns 2, but we put it in Makenna's room for now, and she loves it! (I think it has to do with the princess sheets though). The best part: Mike didn't have to put it together! Some other things we found were a toy cash register and a toy drum for the kids, and some summer clothes for Shane... I did really miss my garage sale partner though, Andrea... Mike wasn't as fun ;)

Everyone (including me) is sick right now. I don't know what it is about Georgia, but the kids have been sick here way more than when we were living in Tucson. We have only been here 6 months and I think this is their 4th cold since we have been here. Usually they only have one or 2 at most per year. So today I have been dealing with runny noses and lots of whining, and all I wanna do is curl up in bed myself.

Creation of the week: I made this sock puppet for the kids:

Got the idea from my sister, who made one a couple months ago, and i thought it was super cute. I got the directions from this website: Craftbits. Im not the greatest at sewing, so it didn't turn out that great. After I was done with it, I handed it to Shane, who tossed it aside. SO worth it!

10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1...

..10 random things about me:
- High school was a nightmare for me
- I am obsessed with organizing.
- I haven't had a good night sleep since before I had Makenna
- Blue is my favorite color
- I hate math
- I've always wanted to be a dancer
- I am always worried about something
- I have really bad social anxiety
- I love Matt Damon.
- I get bored very easily

..9 ways to win my heart:
- Be genuine
- Be kind to everyone and everything
- Be funny
- Love family and friends
- Be spontaneous
- Dance with me
- TRY to be romantic
- Don't make fun of me
- Smile at me

..8 things i want to do before i die:
- Travel
- Ride a hot air balloon
- Meet my Grandchildren
- go to Italy
- Live In Hawaii again
- Figure out what my talent is
- learn a new language
- be truly happy

..7 ways to annoy me:
- Whining
- Someone Sleeping past 10:30 am
- Being condescending
- Being Rude
- Complaining
- Being mean
- Telling me how to raise kids

..6 things i believe in:
- God
- Angels
- Heaven
- Tradition and Culture
- Family Ties
- Lasting friendships

..5 things im afraid of:
- Death of someone i love
- Drowning
- Rejection
- Being left behind
- Kids growning up in a scary world

..4 things in my room:
- Pictures
- 2 lamps
- Kids books
- Clothes on the floor

..3 things i do everyday :
- Kiss my kids
- Brush my teeth
- Drink Water

..2 things i want to do right now:
- Finish my book
- Clean

..1 person i want to see right now:
- Kainoa

REDO: Creation of the day....

I was playing around with Photoshop and made these silhouettes of Shane and Makenna:

Ok I redid Makenna's silhouette...hopefully it looks a little better!

Whats going on...

I haven't blogged much lately. Its been pretty frustrating trying to take pics or videos because of the broken flash. Plus we haven't been up to much, Mike has been working long hours. Last weekend we did go to Tallahassee, to get my bridesmaid dress. We went and visited Tony and his girlfriend Maryann and went to the Science Museum there. But... no pics unfortunately.

It is starting to get pretty hot here in Valdosta... The mosquitos are here, and some of them are huge! Not like the ones in Hawaii! Also when I go outside, I am constantly waving away these things called lovebugs. And I heard it gets a lot worse. I've been taking the kids to the park a lot, before it gets too hot and unbearable.

This Saturday, my friend Bridget is gonna watch the kids while Mike and I go out. Its been a LOONG time since we've been out just the two of us so it will be nice. I am also hoping we get to go the the waterpark here on Sunday and hopefully we can get some good pictures out of that.

Not much else going on. I've been pretty addicted to this seasons American Idol and Dancing with the Stars. Every year I tell myself I'm never watching it again, but I get sucked in. Makenna sings to American Idol a lot and its pretty cute... and when the dancing show comes on, she'll yell "dancing!!!" and sometimes will shake her hips if we tell her to hula.

Both Makenna and Shane have been really into drawing this past 2 weeks. They are always at their easel drawing, and Makenna is getting pretty good! She likes to draw funny faces, bicycles, and snowmen. She can also write the letter "H", "O", "V" and sometimes "W". Shane can draw circles and scribbles. But, he has a really bad habit of wanting to draw on more than the easel...

The Dancer and the Artist

Shane dancing.. It was SOOO cute!
It reminded me of when Kainoa first started dancing:


Makenna the artist. She told me she was drawing bicycles!

And here she drew a "happy" face:

Seaworld Pics...

Unfortunately, our camera didn't take good pics. We are still having problems with it. It either overexposes pictures or doesn't flash at all.

It was really awesome seeing Ruby and her family this weekend. Sophia was so sweet and pretty and Makenna loved her. They looked like sisters walking around together.

Makenna loved the Penguin encounter the best. She kept asking to go back to it over and over. I am not sure if it was to actually see the penguins, or because it was nice and cool in there! Shane seemed to really like the stingrays. I loved the Dolphins the best! Ruby and I waited in line for one of the roller coasters for half and hour and as soon as we got on they made us get off. It started to pour. The weather wasn't the greatest for us unfortunately.

Off to Orlando!

We are going to SeaWorld! I'm excited.... except, today, I was taking a few pics of the kids, and the camera started making some weird noises! Ugh, I hope it won't break down right before our trip. So we are gonna go see Ruby, who I haven't seen in over 2 years. She's moving back to Kauai in June... soo lucky!

So, Ill update when we get back from Orlando, Hopefully with Pictures!

Jennah

kid stuff

Not much going on here. Took the kids outside for some playtime.
Mike teaching Makenna how to pedal:



the slowest fall in history...little miss drama queen:

Shane loves his car:

Dressing up:

Shane and his makeshift chair: